North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid his highest tribute to his late father and former leader Kim Jong-il at the family mausoleum on Wednesday, marking the 14th anniversary of his death. Accompanied by government and party officials, Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang at midnight and prayed for his immortality. This annual ritual has been observed every year except in 2022.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang at midnight on December 17, 2025, to mark the 14th anniversary of his father Kim Jong-il's death. Kim Jong-il passed away on December 17, 2011, at the age of 70, handing over the leadership he had inherited from North Korea's founder and his father, Kim Il-sung, to his youngest son, Kim Jong-un. The palace serves as the family mausoleum, enshrining the embalmed bodies of both late leaders.
Accompanied by members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the ruling Workers' Party, officials from the party's Central Committee, cabinet members, and army personnel, Kim paid tribute and prayed for his father's immortality. He bowed before the statues of both leaders as an expression of noble respects, and flower baskets were laid before them. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that all visitors pledged to remain true, with their whole heart and loyalty, to the ideology and leadership of Kim Jong-un, who is glorifying Kim Jong-il's patriotic exploits by opening up a new glorious history of comprehensive national rejuvenation.
The previous day, December 16, saw numerous public gatherings across North Korea to remember the late leader and hail his accomplishments, with flower baskets sent to his statue in Pyongyang by institutions from China, Russia, and other countries. The Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's main newspaper, published an editorial on Wednesday highlighting Kim Jong-il's policy achievements and urging heightened allegiance to the current leader ahead of the ninth party congress scheduled for early next year. It praised Kim Jong-il for laying the solid foundation for self-driven prosperity and called on readers not to spare patriotic zeal in the march toward the congress. North Korea is expected to unveil a new five-year national economic development plan and outline its policy stances toward Seoul and Washington at the meeting, the first since the eighth congress in 2021.
